List-Mania: Comic Book Covers

A few months ago I blogged about if I was a rich man what would I spend my money on. Not surprisingly, it was about what comic book original art would I adorn my den/library with.

A few of my online friends and I were discussing what some of our favorite comic book covers. If it was possible, if I was a rich man, what comic book covers would I want? Now I could have just picked my favorite comics but I wanted to pick out just the covers alone without any regard to the story themselves.

I didn't spend a lot of time brainstorming this topic or rooting through the thousands of comics that I own, I just chose the ones that came to my mind first. I was a little bit surprised that out of the five covers I picked, only one of them came from my list of favorite comic book artists. I am positive that I am forgetting some and maybe I will post my favorite covers from my favorite artists in the future.

HELLBOY: THE CORPSE

One of my favorite things about artist Mike Mignola is the way he uses the color black. His art is not soft, it has a dark and hard edge to it. I already had this short story but when I had to have this comic when it was re-released to coincide with the first Hellboy movie because of the cover art. I would love to have this hanging in my den/library.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN TPB

Here is another case where I double dipped and paid money for something that I already owned. I had the single issues of this series but I could not pass up getting the collected version with this awesome new cover by my favorite artist Alan Davis. Davis typically has a clean style, no line wasted and very precise. What makes this cover stand out to me is that it feels (and looks) a lot more sketchy, which gives it a dirty impression which does fit the story quite well.

YOUNG LIARS #1

The coloring of the covers and interiors of this woefully cut-short series is what really grabs my eye. It has a pulpy feel to it, like I am reading something out of the 70's. Each cover is unique but this one captures the energy of the series. One of the side effects of having this hanging on my wall is that it would remind me of the whack job this series was. The writer/artist certainly has a warped mind and a keen sense of style.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #321

Artist Mike Zeck ruled during the 80's as one of the best cover artists around. He draw a ton of comics from my childhood (Secret Wars, G.I. Joe, Captain America) but this one stands out. What would make Captain America so angry that he would drop the shield and pick up an Uzi? This was a close one, he did a fantastic G.I. Joe cover and a memorable Wolverine/Captain America showdown that I almost chose. But this one kept popping up in my mind. 

BONE #16

Now I have to admit that I chose this particular Bone cover because of the story inside. I chose it only because it represented my favorite set of storytelling panels. The vicious Rat Creatures have surrounded Bone and his friends in the forest and you cannot see them. The artist Jeff Smith employs the solid use of black and white (the original series was published in black and white) to show how pitch black it was in the forest. When sudden flashes of lightning occurred you could see how close the Rat Creatures were creating a very spooky and tense situation. 

Already by writing this blog I have remembered other covers that I would love to own and hang on a wall in my house. I just might have to share those here on the blog as well.

Pic of the Week: Domingo, Art and I

Day 112

One of my dreams when I get wealthy (ha!) would be to collect art. I would of course get art submissions of my favorite comic book artists but I also would nicely frame some high quality replica paintings.


A man that I met while serving my LDS mission in New York name Domingo gave me a gift that I absolutely treasure. He was an artist and when I mentioned that I loved art he gave me this book called A Basic History of Art and it meant a lot to me. I kept this book throughout my mission and would refer to it many times. Sadly, and this is definitely my fault, I lost contact with Domingo and I regret that I was not a better friend to him. He did make an impact in my life. He made me appreciate art in all its forms and every time I read this textbook, I think of his friendship and I value the little time that I was able to spend with him.


When people find out that I like art they usually will ask me what my favorite painting is. I have a few that I would love to have a good copy of but there is one that definitely sticks out in my mind. Maybe sometime this week I will do a List-Mania column about my top favorite paintings but I will reveal the one that I would love to have the most.

The Third of May, 1808 by Francisco Goya.

The painting commemorates the execution of a group of Madrid citizens. So much symbolism can be found in this painting. I find the man in yellow and white to be the most poignant. Having this figure painted so brightly almost convenes a sense that he is an innocent only wanting what is right for him and his countrymen. The look of loss on his face and with his arms stretched out portrays a feeling of helplessness and a willing to be a witness. With his arms and with what could be a stigma on his hand also could symbolize Christ. The faceless and dark soldiers have their own symbolism that to me resembles automatons only doing what they have been asked, no matter to what they may truly believe inside.

I could go on and on about this painting. The colors and figures certainly make me think and contemplate about my existence and how I contribute to society.

That is what I love about art. You take your own meaning out of it.

List-Mania: Comic Book Artists

Day 56

Happy Boxing Day!

I have mixed feelings now that Christmas is over especially when it comes to this blog. It has been a lot of fun celebrating Christmas for the last two weeks and I think I will miss it but at the same time I am happy it is ending. Conjuring up these Christmas-themed blogs at times has been a hassle and a lot of work. So while I am sad that Christmas is ending, I am happy to be writing about something else.

So I am going to do something fun (well, for me) for today's blog. Since I have tons of white comic boxes and it is Boxing Day I thought I would blog about my favorite comic book artists. Okay, I admit that was quite the stretch.

5) John Cassaday
There was just something different about this artist when he first busted on the scene. He is incredibly detailed and is able to draw just about anything. I appreciated his work but it was when I picked up Planetary that I became a big fan of his work.
FAVORITE WORK: Planetary



4) Steve Rude
What attracted to me to his artwork was how simple and yet how complex his drawings are. His art has an old-school feel to it, like I am reading a comic from back in the sixties. There is no line wasted in his art.
FAVORITE WORK: Nexus



3) Steve Epting
Epting penciled one of my favorite runs on the Avengers and it was there where I took notice of his art. His art took a large leap when he began to pencil Crux for the then-fledgling comic company Crossgen. In fact, Crux was the first CrossGen comic I picked up; just for Epting's work alone.
FAVORITE WORK: Crux



2) Marc Silvestri
Out of all the 'hot' artists that came out of the comic book boom of the early nineties, Marc Silvestri was my favorite. His style was rough and kinetic. He is also self taught, which motivated me to try my hand at drawing. Sadly, I am no where near his level.
FAVORITE WORK: Cyberforce



1) Alan Davis
Alan is my favorite artist bar none. I will follow his artwork wherever it goes. He is the only artist that I have almost every single comic he has drawn. Uncanny X-Men became a favorite title of mine and it was there that I first discovered his work. At first I liked his artwork but I didn’t discover how special is artwork was until a little bit later when Uncanny X-Men Annual #11 came out. This also introduced a favorite character of mine in Captain Britain. It was the way he drew that particular character that quickly made me a fan of his work. He drew the good Captain with a majesty, he was bigger than life and was powerful but also commanded respect. Ever since then I have collected his work. I even got my friend Joel into his work as well. Not only am I a fan but I also have the tremendous opportunity to work with him. He started a website on his own and I noticed that his former message board and been down for months and months. I e-mailed one of his inker friends (Robin Riggs) and asked if he had any contact information about him. He sent me his e-mail address and I asked if he would be interested in me having designed and maintained a message board for him. Surprisingly he was very interested and now I am hosting his message board. VERY COOL! The other best thing is that he sent me a full sketch of whatever character I wanted (I couldn't decide between Argent of the ClanDestine or Captain Britain) and I was very fortunate to get a huge sketch of both of them. A dream come true. I never would have thought that when I first discovered Uncanny X-Men Annual #11 that later in life I would speak to him like he is a friend of mine. It is hard not to geek out! The following artwork is a picture of the artwork that I am proud to own.
FAVORITE WORK: Killraven